Method and devices for facilitating the location of a mobile electronic device

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to a user-portable electronic device and in particular one which is capable of establishing transmission connection with one or more mobile electronic devices. A user-portable electronic device comprising: transmission connection circuitry arranged to establish transmission connection between the user-portable electronic device and one or more mobile electronic devices; geographic-location determining circuitry arranged to determine a geographic location of the or each mobile electronic device associated with transmission connection of the user-portable electronic device and the or each mobile electronic device; and log circuitry arranged to allow storage of a geographic-location log including at least a last-known geographic location of the or each mobile electronic device.

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.12/307,353, filed Jun. 23, 2009, which is a National Stage Entry ofInternational application No. PCT/EP2006/006576, filed Jul. 3, 2006, andof which the entire contents are incorporated herein by reference.

The invention relates to a user-portable electronic device and inparticular one which is capable of establishing transmission connectionwith one or more mobile electronic devices. Both types of electronicdevice do not have a fixed geographic location. The user-portableelectronic device is user portable in the sense that it can be carriedby a user, and may be a mobile phone, a laptop or a personal digitalassistant, for example. The mobile electronic device is not necessarilyuser portable, and may be a car with a built-in hands-free kit, forexample. More specifically, the invention relates to facilitating thelocation of the user-portable device and/or mobile electronic devices.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Users typically have many mobile electronic devices which can easily bemisplaced, lost or stolen. Currently, there is no adequate means wherebya user is able to determine when or where a mobile electronic device waslast located.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided auser-portable electronic device comprising

-   -   transmission connection circuitry arranged to establish        transmission connection between the user-portable electronic        device and one or more mobile electronic devices;    -   geographic-location determining circuitry arranged to determine        a geographic location of the or each mobile electronic device        associated with transmission connection of the user-portable        electronic device and the or each mobile electronic device; and    -   log circuitry arranged to allow storage of a geographic-location        log including at least a last-known geographic location of the        or each mobile electronic device.

The last known geographic location may be the location when theconnection was originally established.

The last known location of the or each mobile device may be based onwhere the connection was last active, disconnected or lost. This wouldbe particularly beneficial as movement of the devices may occur duringconnection.

Transmission connection is thus used to keep a log of the geographiclocations of the or each mobile electronic device. This can then be usedto retrieve the geographic location of the or each mobile electronicdevice, for example, if the mobile electronic device has been misplaced.

In one embodiment, the user-portable electronic device is a mobiletelephone and the mobile electronic devices are peripheral devices suchas headsets and hands-free kits. However, it should be understood thatthe invention is application to any electronic device which is capableof establishing wired or wireless communications with any otherelectronic device, provided that at least one of the electronic devicesis capable of determining (directly or indirectly) its geographiclocation.

The term “transmission connection” relates to any form of physical ornon-physical “wired” or “wireless” communication between the devices,and may include paging operations and/or the transfer of (e.g. payload)data, for example. Transmission connection allows the transmission ofsignals (e.g. electrical/optical/radio) between the mobile electronicdevice and the user-portable electronic device.

The user-portable electronic device may include user-interface circuitryarranged to allow a user to access the geographic-location log in orderto facilitate location of the or each mobile electronic device.Additionally or alternatively, the user may be able to access thegeographic-location log using user-interface circuitry which isphysically remote from the user-portable electronic device, for exampleby accessing the log using a personal computer.

The term “geographic location” relates to one or both of a 2D/3D locusor regional area in space, i.e. geographical positional information.

The geographic-location determining circuitry may be arranged to receivegeographic-location data from the or each mobile electronic device whensaid transmission connection is established.

The geographic-location determining circuitry may be arranged to receivegeographic-location data from the or each mobile electronic device whensaid transmission connection is active. The geographic-locationdetermining circuitry may be arranged to receive geographic-locationdata from the or each mobile electronic device based on the (e.g.user-initiation of/automatic/out-of-range) disconnection between theuser-portable electronic device and the or mobile electronic device.

Additionally or alternatively, the geographic-location determiningcircuitry may be arranged to determine a geographic location of theuser-portable device and to determine the geographic-location of the oreach mobile electronic device based on the determined geographiclocation of the user-portable device and a range of the transmissionconnection between the user-portable electronic device and the or eachmobile electronic device. The term “based on” may relate to the actuallocation of the mobile electronic device and/or the user-portableelectronic device as the mobile electronic device must be in someproximity during transmission connection.

The log circuitry may include storage circuitry arranged to store thegeographic-location log. Additionally or alternatively, the logcircuitry may be arranged to communicate (by wired and/or wirelessmeans) with remote storage circuitry which is capable of storing thegeographic-location log. Additionally or alternatively, the logcircuitry may be arranged to communicate with removable storagecircuitry which is capable of storing the geographic-location log. Forexample, the remote storage circuitry may form part of a network serveror a personal computer which is physically remote from the user-portableelectronic device. The removable storage circuitry may be a memorystick, for example, which can be removed from the user-portableelectronic device.

The log circuitry may be arranged to allow storage in thegeographic-location log of a history of geographic locations of the oreach mobile electronic device.

The log circuitry may be arranged to allow storage of a time at whichthe or each geographic location of the or each mobile electronic devicewas determined.

The user-portable electronic device may be a master device or a slavedevice and the or each mobile electronic device may be a master deviceor a slave device.

The user-interface circuitry may be arranged to allow sorting of entriesin the geographic-location log. The user-interface circuitry may beoperable to allow searching of entries in the geographic-location log.The entries may be sorted or searched based on a regularity oftransmission connection with a particular mobile electronic device, aname of a mobile electronic device, a location, a time, and/ortransmission connection settings, for example Bluetooth™ settingsdialogue. The user-portable may include processing circuitry arranged toperform the sorting and/or searching operations. The processingcircuitry may be comprised with the log circuitry and/or user-interfacecircuitry.

The user-portable electronic device may comprise cartographic circuitryand display circuitry arranged to display a map indicating thelast-known geographic location of the mobile electronic device.

The geographic-location determining circuitry may be arranged todetermine the geographic location of the or each mobile electronicdevice during transmission connection upon initiation by the user.Additionally or alternatively, the geographic-location determiningcircuitry may be arranged to determine the geographic location of the oreach mobile electronic device during transmission connectionautomatically.

According to a second aspect of the invention, there is provided auser-portable electronic device comprising

-   -   means for establishing transmission connection between the        user-portable electronic device and one or more mobile        electronic devices;    -   means for determining a geographic location of the or each        mobile electronic device associated with transmission connection        of the user-portable electronic device and the or each mobile        electronic device; and    -   means for allowing storage of a geographic-location log        including at least a last-known geographic location of the or        each mobile electronic device.

According to a third aspect of the invention, there is provided a modulefor a user-portable electronic device, the module comprising

-   -   transmission connection circuitry arranged to establish        transmission connection between the user-portable electronic        device and one or more mobile electronic devices;    -   geographic-location determining circuitry arranged to determine        a geographic location of the or each mobile electronic device        associated with transmission connection of the user-portable        electronic device and the or each mobile electronic device; and    -   log circuitry arranged to allow storage of a geographic-location        log including at least a last-known geographic location of the        or each mobile electronic device.

According to a fourth aspect of the invention, there is provided amodule for a user-portable electronic device, the module comprising

-   -   means for establishing transmission connection between the        user-portable electronic device and one or more mobile        electronic devices;    -   means for determining a geographic location of the or each        mobile electronic device associated with transmission connection        of the user-portable electronic device and the or each mobile        electronic device; and    -   means for allowing storage of a geographic-location log        including at least a last-known geographic location of the or        each mobile electronic device.

According to a fifth aspect of the invention, there is provided anetwork apparatus comprising

-   -   storage circuitry arranged to store a geographic-location log        including at least a last-known geographic location of one or        more mobile electronic devices.

According to a sixth aspect of the invention, there is provided a methodof facilitating location of a mobile electronic device, the methodcomprising

-   -   establishing transmission connection between a user-portable        electronic device and the mobile electronic device;    -   determining a geographic location of the mobile electronic        device associated with transmission connection of the        user-portable electronic device and the mobile electronic        device; and    -   allowing storage of a geographic-location log including at least        a last-known geographic location of the mobile electronic        device.

Any circuitry of the user-portable electronic device or module accordingto the invention may include one or more processors, memories and buslines. One or more of the circuitries described may share circuitryelements.

The present invention includes one or more aspects, embodiments and/orfeatures of said aspects and/or embodiments in isolation and/or invarious combinations whether or not specifically stated (includingclaimed) in that combination or in isolation.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In order that the invention may more readily be understood, adescription is now given, by way of example only, reference being madeto the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a first embodiment of a user-portableelectronic device according to the invention;

FIG. 2 shows geographic-location determining circuitry according to theinvention;

FIG. 3 shows a geographic-location log according to the invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a second embodiment of a user-portableelectronic device according to the invention;

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a third embodiment of a user-portableelectronic device according to the invention;

FIG. 6 shows a variant of the geographic-location log of FIG. 3;

FIG. 7 shows a user-portable electronic device according to theinvention displaying a map;

FIG. 8 shows the user-portable electronic device of FIG. 7 furtherdisplaying a trace;

FIG. 9 shows a user-portable device according to the invention includingcartographic circuitry.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a first embodiment of a user-portableelectronic device 100 having an antenna module 12, transmissionconnection circuitry 14, geographic-location determining circuitry 16,log circuitry 18, user-interface circuitry 20 and storage circuitry 22.

The transmission connection circuitry 14 is arranged to establishtransmission connection via the antenna module 12 between theuser-portable electronic device 100 and one or more mobile electronicdevices 52-56, such as headsets or hands-free kits, for example, andalso to communicate with positioning systems such as GPS satellites (notshown).

The geographic-location determining circuitry 16 is arranged todetermine the geographic location of a mobile electronic device 52-56when the user-portable electronic device 100 connects to that mobileelectronic device 52-56. With mobile electronic devices 52-56 thatinclude position-determining circuitry, such as a GPS module, thegeographic-location determining circuitry 16 receivesgeographic-location data from the mobile electronic device 52-56 duringthe connection to that mobile electronic device 52-56. With mobileelectronic devices 52-56 that do not include position-determiningcircuitry, the geographic-location determining circuitry 16 determinesits own geographic location (i.e. that of the user-portable device 100)and calculates the geographic location of the mobile electronic device52-56 based on its own geographic location and a range of thetransmission connection between the user-portable electronic device 100and the mobile electronic device 52-56. To this end, as shown in FIG. 2,the geographic-location determining circuitry 16 includes a GPS module30 and a cell ID module 32 whereby it obtains geographic location data.For example, in the case that the user-portable electronic device 100connects to a Bluetooth™ headset, the geographic-location determiningcircuitry 16 determines its own geographic location and calculates thegeographic location of the headset as the area within a 10 m radius ofits own geographic location, 10 m being the range within whichtransmission connection can be established with the Bluetooth™ headset.

The log circuitry 18 is arranged to allow storage of ageographic-location log 26, as shown in FIG. 3, including a last-knowngeographic location of each mobile electronic device 52-56 whosegeographic location has been determined by the geographic-locationdetermining circuitry 16. Each record of the log 26 includes fieldsdescribing the name or other identifiers (for example, the physicalIP/MAC/Bluetooth™ address) of the mobile electronic device 52-56 towhich the user-portable electronic device 100 has been connected, thegeographic location of the mobile electronic device 52-56 as determinedby the geographic-location determining circuitry 16 at the time of thetransmission connection, the date of the transmission connection, thetime of the transmission connection, and the transmission connectionmedia, for example via Bluetooth™ or wireless local area network WLAN.In this embodiment, the log 26 is stored in the storage circuitry 22.The log in FIG. 3 is an active log indicating which device is currentlyconnected.

The user-interface circuitry 20 allows the user to access thegeographic-location log 26 in order to facilitate location of the mobileelectronic devices 52-56. The user-interface circuitry 20 can be used tosort or search entries in the geographic-location log 26. The entriesmay be sorted or searched based on a regularity of transmissionconnection with a particular mobile electronic device 52-56 (i.e. theentries are presented according to connection frequency), a name of amobile electronic device 52-56, a location, a time, and/or transmissionconnection settings.

FIG. 4 shows a second embodiment of a user-portable electronic device200 which includes, in addition to the elements of user-portableelectronic device 100 (the antenna module 12, transmission connectioncircuitry 14, geographic-location determining circuitry 16, logcircuitry 18, user-interface circuitry 20 and storage circuitry 22),removable storage circuitry 24 and an electrical connector 28. The logcircuitry 18 is arranged to communicate with the removable storagecircuitry 24, which stores the geographic-location log 26. In thisembodiment, the removable storage circuitry 24 is a memory stick. Theelectrical connector 28 is used for wired/physical transmissionconnection to mobile electronic devices 52-56. In the case that wiredtransmission connection is established between the user-portableelectronic device 200 and a mobile electronic device 52-56 which cannotdetermine its geographic location, the geographic-location determiningcircuitry 16 uses its own geographic location as that of the mobileelectronic device 52-56.

In a third embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5, user-portable electronicdevice 300 does not include the storage circuitry 22 or removablestorage circuitry 24, but instead the log circuitry 18 communicates viathe transmission connection circuitry 14 and antenna module 12 withremote electronic device 34 having remote storage circuitry 36. Theremote storage circuitry stores the geographic-location log 26. Theremote storage circuitry 36 may form part of a network server or apersonal computer. In this way, the user can use the personal computerto access the log 26 in order to locate mobile electronic devices 52-56to which the user portable electronic device 300 has connected, or evento locate the user-portable electronic device itself, since thegeographic locations of the mobile electronic devices 52-56 will beindicative of, or even identical to, the geographic locations of theuser-portable electronic device 300. This will facilitate location ofthe mobile electronic device 52-56 independently of the user-portableelectronic device 300. In a further variant, the log 26 is stored inmultiple locations including any of the storage circuitry 22, removablestorage circuitry 24 and remote storage circuitry 36.

FIG. 6 shows a variant of the geographic-location log 26. In thevariant, the log 26 includes a history of the geographic locations of aparticular mobile electronic device 52-56 (i.e. the log is a historicallog available after disconnection of the devices). As seen, the log 26records the geographic location of the mobile electronic device 52-56,in this case a Bluetooth™ headset, each time a transmission connectionwith that device is made, along with the date and time of thetransmission connection and the transmission connection media used. Theuser may search through the history in order to trace his movements.

It will be appreciated that the data table in FIG. 6 is only oneexample, and that other data formats could be used, such as date indiffering formats and location in differing formats other than justLatitude/Longitude (for example, UTM, UK National grid, Irish grid etc).UTM is Universal Transverse Mercator Projection (UTM) based on spheroidInternational (1924), UK National Projection is based on Spheroid Airyand Irish grid is based on the Spheroid Airy (modified).

FIG. 7 shows a user-portable electronic device 100 having a display 38displaying a map 42. A crosshair 40 indicates the last-known geographiclocation of a mobile electronic device 52-56 to which the user-portableelectronic device 100 connected, the crosshair 40 indicating thegeographic location on the map 42, such that the user can readilyidentify the geographic location. The particular mobile electronicdevice 52-56 for which geographic location information is required isselectable by the user via the user-interface circuitry 20.

For example, a user who has forgotten where he parked his car can usethe user-portable electronic device 100 to display on the map 42 thelast-known geographic location of a headset which he uses in his car(and which was last connected when in the car), thereby to discover thelocation of the car. Similarly, the previous connection of the device100 to the built-in hands-free kit of the car can be used to determinethe location of the car.

FIG. 8 shows the same user-portable electronic device 100 with map 42and crosshair 40 displayed on the display 38. Further displayed is atrace 44 to representing a history of the geographic locations of themobile electronic device 52-56.

For the purposes of displaying the maps shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, theuser-portable electronic device 100 may include cartographic circuitry46, as shown in FIG. 9.

The applicant hereby discloses in isolation each individual featuredescribed herein and any combination of two or more such features, tothe extent that such features or combinations are capable of beingcarried out based on the present specification as a whole in the lightof the common general knowledge of a person skilled in the art,irrespective of whether such features or combinations of features solveany problems disclosed herein, and without limitation to the scope ofthe claims. The applicant indicates that aspects of the presentinvention may consist of any such individual feature or combination offeatures. In view of the foregoing description it will be evident to aperson skilled in the art that various modifications may be made withinthe scope of the invention.

1. An apparatus comprising: at least one processor; and at least onememory including computer program code, the at least one memory and thecomputer program code configured to, with the at least one processor,cause the apparatus to perform at least the following: allow storage ofa geographic-location log including at least a last-known geographiclocation of one or more mobile electronic devices; the last-knowngeographic location of the one or more mobile electronic devicesdetermined based on disconnection or loss of transmission connectionbetween a user-portable electronic device and the one or more mobileelectronic devices.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatusis configured to allow storage of the geographic-location log includingthe last-known geographic location of the one or more mobile electronicdevices determined based on the determined geographic location of theuser-portable electronic device and a range of the transmissionconnection between the user-portable electronic device and the one ormore mobile electronic devices.
 3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein theapparatus comprises transmission connection circuitry configured to beable to establish transmission connection between the user-portableelectronic device and the one or more mobile electronic devices.
 4. Theapparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus is configured to allow auser to access the geographic-location log in order to facilitatelocation of the one or more mobile electronic devices.
 5. The apparatusof claim 1, wherein the apparatus is configured to allow one or more of:sorting of entries in the geographic-location log; and searching ofentries in the geographic-location log.
 6. The apparatus of claim 1,wherein the apparatus is configured to allow storage of one or more ofthe following in the geographic-location log: the name or otheridentifier of the one or more mobile electronic devices; an indicationof the last-known geographic location of the one or more mobileelectronic device the time and date of the last-known geographiclocation of the one or more mobile electronic devices; and thetransmission connection media used at the time of the last-knowngeographic location of the one or more mobile electronic devices.
 7. Theapparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus is configured to allowstorage of a history of geographic locations of the one or more mobileelectronic devices in the geographic-location log.
 8. The apparatus ofclaim 1, wherein the apparatus is configured to allow storage of one ormore times at which one or more geographic locations of the one or moremobile electronic device was determined in the geographic-location log.9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus is configured toallow for display of a user-searched last-known geographic location ofthe one or more mobile electronic devices obtained from thegeographic-location log.
 10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein theapparatus is configured to use geographic-location data received fromthe one or more mobile electronic devices when said transmissionconnection is one or more of established and active.
 11. The apparatusof claim 1, wherein the geographic-location log is stored at one or moreof: the user-portable electronic device; a remote storage means locatedremotely from the user-portable electronic device; and a removablestorage means of the user-portable electronic device.
 12. The apparatusof claim 1, wherein the user-portable electronic device is a masterdevice or a slave device and each of the one or more mobile electronicdevices is a master device or a slave device.
 13. The apparatus of claim1, wherein the apparatus is configured to store the geographic-locationlog of the one or more mobile electronic devices in a format allowingthe last-known geographic location of the one or more mobile electronicdevices to be indicated on a map.
 14. The apparatus of claim 1, whereinthe apparatus is configured to allow storage of the geographic-locationlog including the determined geographic location of the one or moremobile electronic devices during: transmission connection uponinitiation by a user, and/or automatic transmission connection.
 15. Theapparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus is one or more of: logcircuitry; the user-portable electronic device; a module for theuser-portable electronic device; and network apparatus in communicationwith the user-portable electronic device.
 16. A method comprising:allowing storage of a geographic-location log including at least alast-known geographic location of one or more mobile electronic devices;the last-known geographic location of the one or more mobile electronicdevices determined based on disconnection or loss of transmissionconnection between a user-portable electronic device and the one or moremobile electronic devices.
 17. The method of claim 16, wherein themethod further comprises: determining the last-known geographic locationof the one or more mobile electronic devices based on a range oftransmission connection between the user-portable electronic device andthe one or more mobile electronic devices.
 18. A computer readablemedium comprising computer program code stored thereon, the computerreadable medium and computer program code being configured to, when runon at least one processor, perform at least the following: allowingstorage of a geographic-location log including at least a last-knowngeographic location of one or more mobile electronic devices; thelast-known geographic location of the one or more mobile electronicdevices determined based on disconnection or loss of transmissionconnection between a user-portable electronic device and the one or moremobile electronic devices.
 19. A system comprising: the apparatus ofclaim 1; transmission apparatus configured to establish transmissionconnection between the user-portable electronic device and the one ormore mobile electronic devices; and geographic-location determiningapparatus configured to determine at least the last known geographiclocation of the one or more mobile electronic devices associated withdisconnection or loss of transmission connection of the user-portableelectronic device and the one or more mobile electronic devices.